Villa Ardilla: Master Bedroom Makeover

Canvas

We couldn't complain obviously. We've seen and heard so much worse! Many houses in Spain are sold with the entire inventory and it's a big gamble what you might find! Of course, you can elect to have everything taken away, but I thought the treasure hunt was so much fun. And we were lucky, the previous (elderly) owners had taken such good care of the property, and really invested in (mostly) quality goods. Tastes differ but it's lovely to arrive in a foreign country with a bed to sleep in, and a cupboard to put your clothes in. They had emptied all cabinets (trust me, that must have been a massive job!!) and even left us clean sheets and towels. I loved them already!

The first room we tackled was our bedroom. And to be fair, it didn't need that much. It was spacious, had gorgeous exposed stone, a massive built-in cupboard and a big ensuite bathroom. The Mediterranean tiles on the floor really suit the place. And are a delight in summer. It was just a little hard to see through all this with the copious amount of extra cabinets, desks, picture frames, wall-mounted shelves, gross curtains and 'interesting' bedhead. See here for the before picture!

Colour

I first decided the colours had to change. The house is a little dark (to keep the heat out in summer) and had stark white walls. It just gave cold shivers. It really needed some depth to it. The house is pink. It's country side, and a Mediterranean setting. So I first on a colour scheme that would inject some warmth and summer into it. The entire family voted yes (bonus) - this is the scheme we went with (found on Pinterest):

Off we went to the local paint shop. A lovely lady who was very keen to help select the right colours. We ended up choosing a darker and lighter tone for the bedroom, to really make the exposed stone stand out.

The first coat went on (thanks hubby for cutting in), I was a bit concerned it would end up being purple, but thank goodness it turned out just the way I had planned. The feature wall was going to look fab. The lighter taupe colour went on every other wall and looks great. The walls are texturised. Personally not a fan of popcorn on the wall, but it suits the house and hides a multitude of sins. Particularly since I first had to fill about 3 dozen holes in the wall....

Decorating

Then the fun part, decorating! We took 3 cabinets, plus the desk, elsewhere. In addition to the enormous built-ins, plus a tall boy, they really weren't necessary. The lazy chair I found in the living room (yay!). We bought some simple sheers for the windows and some bedding. IKEA to the rescue for bedside tables, and replacement lamp shades for the (otherwise still pretty decent) lamps. I brought the plaid and the genuine Berber rug from home. Nearly done!

Gallery wall

I like a good gallery wall and decided this was a good wall for it. But I wanted to keep it quite peaceful. With coordinated artworks, in the colour palette of the house, but with subjects that mean something to us (without being too obvious). I ordered these 5 pictures from posterstore.com:

Petra, Jordan: Probably one of our best holidays ever. Absolutely love that place. And the pink tram, Lisbon Portugal: Fun memories of an awesome city.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia: Because we get homesick every now and then. Pomegranate: Those we find in the garden of Villa Ardilla! Beach: Hubby is a surfer and misses the ocean.

Result of the makeover

So then, on a very low budget, our new Spanish bedroom looks like this!

And the view to the other side (with a sneak peek to the bathroom) :

I am stoked! Can't wait to spend more time there. What do you think?

Love, Marieke

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